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What Is Next

As I mentioned in my last post, I already have had some ideas about what to do next, now that Blue Funk is no more. So here they are, in a particular order.

• Find more gigs with other bands. I’ve already done gigs with Collective Hallucination, and could find gigs with other bands if I made an effort to do so.
• Blues jams and open mics. Lori and I, as well as possibly Rebecca, could go more frequently to blues jams such as the Thursday jams at Dan Electro’s and the Houston Blues Society one at The Big Easy.
• Work on songwriting. This includes finishing up songs that I have started, as well as learning how to use the tools I have to make demos and printed music for these songs.
• Woodshed. My playing chops are nowhere near where I’d like them to be, and I think they need to be better to do the first item above. See my post from 3 March. I also think they should be better in order to do the next item.
• Last but not least, Joe Stone goes solo. I heard an ad the other day for a performance by a singer/songwriter, and it talked about the great band he was going to have. While I don’t have the chops, repertoire, nor pedigree that someone like this has, I thought about all the options this would give me. I could use any musicians I wanted and could do the gig. I think my songs would be better promoted as a solo act “songwriter Joe Stone” than as part of a band. There are some cons, like having to do all the work myself as far as promoting and merch, and I don’t have any money to pay the musicians until/unless the gigs pay so that might limit who I can get at first. But after talking to some other musicians about this, the idea of just hiring musicians is really appealing.

Another aspect I’m already liking is managing one artist. For the past few months, I’ve been having to do things like update calendars for Joe Stone and Blue Funk, sometimes the same event for both. Now, it’s just me. Even if I play with other bands, I would just be updating my friends, family, and fans about those shows, leaving the band to do their own promotion. So I would just update the Joe Stone events like I have done with listing the CH gigs. I’m not saying anything bad about the work I did for Blue Funk, just that the dual entities were difficult to manage in parallel.

Notice that none of my options talked about joining another band. I just don’t see doing that, for several reasons. One, I know myself too well, and know that I need the creative outlet and the control of the artistic direction. Two, once you’re in a band, you’re obligated to them. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if I started playing with several bands, and there was a conflict, I’d have to be obligated to the one I was a member of. Three, I just don’t want to deal with those dynamics and potentially drama. One of the things I enjoy about my time with CH is I just do my part, play the songs. Not that I don’t care, but I don’t have to deal with things that may happen around me. I can focus on the music as well as showing up on time and not worry about the rest.

First on my list, woodshedding!

Next, in part 3… nah, I’m done for now. 😉

Fri, 2009 03 13 at 4:49 PM |Permalink for this entry

On the Cusp of Greatness

No, not really, but it's fun to say.

I've been saying for the past week or so that sometimes, when you put a piece of steel in the forge, it comes out stronger, but other times, the forge reveals the flaws in the steel. That's one way of looking at what happened to Blue Funk last weekend, because the band broke up. It is not worth going into all the details, but looking back over the longer picture, this may have been coming for a while. As I posted previously, we have had trouble getting our groove back as a band. There may have been other factors that were causing that difficulty, and these may have led to the breakup.

Another way to look at it, because you can never have too many metaphors, is two people are dating, and one asks the other to marry, and the other says, "no." Once it's clear that the direction of relationship for the two people is different, is there really any point in carrying on?

The other side of this is the shame of it all. We had gotten a couple of gigs, had been talking about doing a recording so we would have material to try to get more gigs, we had Angelina take photos for us, and were discussing merchandise to have to sell at gigs as well. I guess in that regard it was good that this happened now instead of after investing in all that, but it makes me realize how close we were to taking the next step.

The situation is a bit odd for me in many regards. I've been kicking around "Blue Funk" since around 1994 or so, if not earlier. Besides the time with Mikey and Joe, this is the furthest the band has ever gotten and the longest it has been "a thing." We started with Tony and Rebecca in late 2005 and Jeff joined in January of 2006. We've been going ever since. To not have that as part of our lives will be odd. Whenever Lori and I visit an open house or home tour, my first thought is always, "is there a room we could use for the band if this was ours?" If it weren't for the experiences I've had in this band, I would not be taking on the whole professional musician thing. The growth I've experienced as a person and player over the past few years because of the band is immeasurable. But now I will have to learn to move on without it.

What's next for me? I've hinted at it above, but I think I'll save it for a separate blog post. You don't want this one to be even longer, do you?

Fri, 2009 03 13 at 11:49 AM |Permalink for this entry

I’ve Been Bad. Sorry.

Sick and swamped

It's been exactly a month (same day last month, 28 days/4 weeks ago) since my last entry. The reasons I haven't posted are because I've been sick and I've been swamped. The Twestival gig was the week after my last post, and dangit if I didn't get sick again that Monday, sucking up all my energy that I had planned to use to get prepared for the gig.

The week after was the CH gig. I didn't really spend much effort getting ready for that because most of the songs were the same as the previous show, albeit with Ant's usual changed-up arrangements. There were a couple of new songs that I should have worked on a bit more, but oh well.

Blue Funk confirmed a gig at Coffee Groundz for March 21, and our good friends The Distracted are opening up for us. Some of you may know, Tony was the drummer in Blue Funk before Phil. We are spending the next few weekends getting ready for that show.

One unfortunate thing that has been happening with Blue Funk is that we still haven't gotten our groove back. What I mean by that is before Jeff left in October 2007, and with John afterwards, all agreed we were a pretty tight little band. But, John sorta leaving and us not getting together regularly during the latter half of 2008, we are not as good as we once were. Before we knew it, we had shows to get ready for, and the only way to do that was to rehearse, something we've never done before. We have always just jammed and grew as a band that way. Rehearsing can be very draining, because instead of just having fun and playing, you're trying to get the arrangements of the songs just right. Some in the band are feeling it and struggling with it. But, we plan to get back to the jamming so we can be like we were before, and not have to rehearse for any upcoming shows at that point.

I am happy to say that I have been able to spend some time practicing on my own technique and skills. Like I mentioned in the post about Irie Time, there are certain skills that I don't have that I want, and I've been taking the time to start to develop those. I feel that if I can develop these skills, I can be much more marketable to other bands, and then I can decide if I want to play with them, not the other way around.

Tue, 2009 03 03 at 10:10 AM |Permalink for this entry

Versus

I've been thinking a bit lately about what I'm working on vs. what I want to be doing. Some of this comes out of what happened over the weekend with Scottie McDonald and Irie Time. In a way, I was relieved that gig didn't come through because right now, I'm still learning to balance playing with other bands against working on my own things. Most other bands are looking for someone to be a full time member, and I'm just not going to do that. I already am in one band, and since it's "my" band and I'm the "leader," I have enough work to do there. Also, most bands want to rehearse a bit. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm struggling with rehearsals between Blue Funk and Collective Hallucination. Throw in having gigs and it's tricky to get your head around all the scheduling. I hear it gets easier…

Therefore, I've decided a bit of focus is necessary. I want to get better as a player, so I can do more things. I have to be careful, though, because I've never met a musician that was happy with their playing ability and skill level. But there is so much that I feel that I'm on the cusp of being able to do, and that I need to be able to do in order to get some of my shorter term goals accomplished, that it seems that I should focus more on those skills right now.

Also, things have been happening with Blue Funk, and that has been taking my time as well. We have a gig this month, and potentially one in March and another in April. None of them are huge, but we should make something out of each of them. This requires us to both be ready to perform, as well as to market ourselves a bit. If we let people go away empty-handed, they're much more likely to forget about us. Before the rehearsal we had on Sunday, we had photos taken of us, and we need to use them as part of our promo material and whatever else we distribute. We need to work more on our originals, because that's where our focus is as a band. We have a decent number, but we have let a few fall by the wayside that we need to bring up to the level of the others so that they're available to include in sets.

I don't plan on disappearing. Getting involved in the Houston music scene has been one of the coolest things that I've done, and I hope to do it more. But I think if someone comes to me looking for a keyboard player, for now I need to be more choosy about with whom I consider playing. Yes, I can learn a lot "on the job," but I can give them much more if I'm a better player when I start playing with them. Also, hopefully it will then take me less time to get up to speed on their style and material, giving me more time to continue to do my own things.

Tue, 2009 02 03 at 9:12 AM |Permalink for this entry

It’s Not Irie Time for Me

Because it's a journal so not everything works out

After the CH rehearsal yesterday, I stopped in to see Scottie McDonald of Irie Time. They are looking for a permanent keyboard player. I did tell him that I'm not looking to join another band, and that I don't do other sounds besides the basics of piano, organ, and electric pianos (in other words, what's provided by the awesome Nord Electro). Still, he was very interested in hearing me play and seeing if I can do what they are looking for.

Even though he didn't say it outright, I don't think I quite made the cut. He's looking for a keyboard player that can solo in a very jazzy style, along with their "Tropical jazz / Reggae soca-calypso / Caribbean party music." While I felt that some of the stuff I played was pretty decent, I guess he was looking for more. Once he explained what it was, I kind of knew it was currently out of my league. I'd love to be able to play very jazzy solos, but I'm still working my way towards that. Still, he seemed interested in me and seemed to hope I could get there and work with them in the future.

Sun, 2009 02 01 at 3:31 AM |Permalink for this entry

It Was My Birthday, and I Shall Rock If I Want To

Know what I did for fun on my birthday?

I toured a recording studio. A) I've never been to a "real" one, and 2) Blue Funk is talking about making a demo or an album, so I wanted to get the studio owner's perspective on what it takes, as well as what kind of gear he had. This guy has worked with Tony Vega, Mighty Orq, and Texas Johnny Brown among others, so he definitely has some cred!

After the tour, Lori and I went to lunch, and we talked further about what it would take and what the band should do before we go into a studio. Then we visited a friend who is also a musician, and talked more about music and our bands.

For years, I always avoided work on my birthday. Whether it was taking a day off from my job, or just avoiding it when I worked for myself as a web developer, my birthday was a day to not work, and not talk about it. This is the first time in years I've done "work" on my birthday, because my work is music and I love it and I live for it.

Sat, 2009 01 31 at 2:54 AM |Permalink for this entry

Mentoring, Mixers, and Me

What's two weeks between friends?

I should start out by apologizing to all whom I promised this blog post two weeks ago. I've had trouble with writing it, and also have been busy with other things (mostly in a good way, as you'll see). So, I'm sorry.

Back on January 13th, I met with Matthew Wettergreen at Caroline Collective to be the first person to participate in the new Music Mentoring Program, sponsored by Dan Workman/SugarHill Studios and W. Ross Wells/Zenfilm. Thanks guys! That's initially all this blog post was supposed to be about.

I must admit, the session wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. I guess I was looking for… magic. If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that my goal is to be a songwriter and musician. One of the things I'm currently trying to determine is how to do that and live the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed. Lori works a "square job," and ideally, those are the primary hours I'd work too. I was hoping there were some angles or ideas I was missing in order to get my songs out there that I had not thought of.

The session brought me back down to earth, perhaps rather hard. The reality is that there are some things I'm just going to have to do to get myself and my music out there. After spending the first half of the session giving Matthew some background on myself and what my goals are, that is what we discussed, what I need to do to get to the next stage.

He talked about me working in parallel with the band to promote myself and my songwriting. He thinks I should get the band to play out once a month, sell merchandise, and thus make some money to make a record. The record would give me another tool to present my material, and performing it live would give us the chance to tighten up the material and see what works.

He also felt that I should finish the song I started for Beth Black and just present it to her. I forgot to tell him that I also have another song I'm cowriting with my sister and need to finish that as well. Those are things on my to do list that I haven't gotten to, and as he pointed out, I need to get at least those people to know my songs and give me feedback, etc.

Lastly, he said I should get out to some other blues shows and meet the people there, present myself as a keyboard player and songwriter so they know of me and my songs.

I knew right away at a certain level that he was right about this, though some of these things were things I was either avoiding or not bothering to do for whatever reason.

So How Am I Doing?

Pretty good, akshly.

The Sunday after I did the mentoring session, we went to the Snake Charmers' CD release party at Bohemeo's. I met a bunch of people and networked with them. I also played at the jam at the end and got compliments on that from some of the same people. In fact, one guy, BIll Nelson, said he really likes our stuff. I talked to him more yesterday, and he expressed interest in doing gigs with us, with one of us opening for the other. He's also interested in producing us. He said he "gets ideas" listening to our music. Stylistically, we have a lot in common. I was impressed with him before I knew he knew who I was.

The Tuesday after that (one week after the mentoring session), we went to the Houston Music Makers Mixer. I met a ton of people there and talked about what I do. In fact, I met so many, it was kind of overwhelming. I ended up creating a document just to keep track of all these people. One guy was interested in me playing with his band and we are talking about that. Another owns a studio where several local blues acts such as Mighty Orq, Tony Vega, and Alan Haynes have recorded. He also has a band and we talked a little about me playing with them, as well as touring his studio which I hope to do soon. When the woman from Houston Live Music To-Go found out ours was a blues band, she said, "please sign up because we're always looking for blues bands." I'm leaving out a bunch of other people that we met but hope to keep in touch with.

Not long after the mentoring session, we were asked to play the Twestival on February 12 with several other bands. So Blue Funk is getting ready for that show. We are also in discussions with a couple of venues to play in March and later. The band is discussing the possibility of going into the studio to record sooner rather than later. Since there is "square job" money for most of us, we could each invest our share into the sessions in order to get that done, and then try to recoup that later. It seems to me that the investment into recordings will give us better material to present to venues and a vehicle for my songs (as well as Jeff's if he has aspirations beyond just us performing them). Lori pointed out to me last night we ought to do a band partnership agreement with all of this.

So out of several to-dos from the session, it seems like a few got completed by falling into my lap. I'll take that. 😉 Am I bit overwhelmed by all that's going on? Absolutely. Am I excited by the possibilities? Definitely. Do I realize that I sound like Donald Rumsfield two years after he left office? Sure I do. I've realized in all this that I just have to take each thing as it comes. It is easy to be overwhelmed and not know what to do next. But, I just have to do whatever thing and keep moving.

There are a lot of other things I want to get done that I'm struggling to squeeze in, like improve my technique, learn more styles of music, learn how to use tools like Logic so I can make demos and write songs and create sheet music that I can present to people, but I suppose I'll just have to make time for those things. As the French say, such is life. But the French say a lot of things.

Tue, 2009 01 27 at 12:48 PM |Permalink for this entry

To Gig or Not To Gig

I "lost" the gig that I wasn't really worried about. It seems the singer for that gig brought a keyboard player from her church. I can't say I'm not disappointed, as I was looking forward to the challenge. However, at the time I found this out yesterday, I still had not received any of the songs, and that was getting annoying with the show and rehearsals coming up. But now, I know why.

They have asked me to do a gig with them on February 21. The set list includes quite a few songs that we did in the December 20 show, so that will make that one much easier to prepare for. I'm still finalizing details with them about it, so it's not 100% I'm going to do it.

I've been fighting a cold since last Tuesday. Yesterday I felt much better but today I have yet another new symptom or two. This doesn't have anything to do with music except that the run down feeling along with being pissed that it's still here is affecting my ability to work on music stuff.

We had a Blue Funk jam on Saturday. Jeff was sick, but John came, so we still had a guitar player. He's interested in playing with us at future jams as well as out, so we will see what happens. It will be interesting finding musical space when the three J's (Jeff, John, and Joe) are all playing. We will all have to make an effort to listen to each other and not step on each other's toes. For instance, I've become used to filling a certain musical space when playing with Jeff. John tends to fill some of those spaces himself. That's cool, but we may have to make a conscious effort to not both do it at the same time. The three of us will also have to keep an eye out for who is soloing or arrange that ahead of time.

Mon, 2009 01 12 at 10:14 AM |Permalink for this entry

Soul Singing

It's been a while since the last update. I'm sorry about that. The holiday break was a little nutty, and I did very little practicing nor much productive stuff to talk about.

Obviously I felt the gig with Collective Hallucination was overall, a success. Like I said in a previous post, when I'm feeling confident or good about something, I tend to talk about it less and let what I do speak for itself. That was definitely the case with that show.

The week after the CH gig, we had our first Blue Funk jam in a long time. It was definitely the first with all five members in quite a while. It's funny, a couple of members felt like it was really rough at the time, but when they listened to the recordings, they thought it wasn't so bad after all. I always record every jam, and this is one of the reasons why. Sometimes, your perspective while you are inside of it is different from it would be from the outside. One important thing to learn is that just because a performance doesn't feel right to you doesn't mean it came across badly to the audience. Why there is such a disparity, I can't say. Perhaps we get caught up in our own foibles and lose perspective on everything we are doing right. Or it could be that we are often better at this than we think we are.

Anyway, I thought the jam went well. I felt I was even more adventurous in my playing, which is something I was hoping for after the CH gig. Jeff was playing some stellar solos, doing things I had never heard (or maybe simply noticed? If so, sorry, Jeff!) him do before. We are having another jam tomorrow, and we will have a special guest. However, Jeff may not be able to make it because he and Connie are sick, and unless both of them get better, it's unlikely he will be able to make it. I'm bummed about that, and I know he is too. Such is life. I'm really hoping to get Blue Funk on track again so we can start playing out. Nothing major, just start with some blues jams and such, and see if we can work our way into some opening slots or smaller clubs.

I got a text message from Ant, the leader of CH, on Monday that said, "don't forget rehearsals resume tomorrow! See u at 7!" I replied, "did you mean me too?" and he replied, "yes." Turns out, the gig he told me about last week that may need keyboards does. But, I could not make rehearsals Tuesday nor tomorrow, and the gig is on January 17th. I will only able to play with them at one rehearsal, next Tuesday, unless he squeezes in any more before the show. But here is the funny part. I'm not worried about it. It could be because I've been sick all week and my head is not all here, but I don't think that is it. The show is nine songs, but I'm just not concerned at this point. I told Lori this, and she said, "I swear, you are so manic depressive!" 😊

Fri, 2009 01 09 at 2:29 PM |Permalink for this entry

Firsts

Saturday night was my first

• paid gig
• gig playing with another band
• full-length gig
• gig in front of a full, large audience
• gig where the audience came to see me/the band I was in

As a friend’s wife said to me, “wow - multiple cherries popped at once!”

Tue, 2008 12 23 at 4:13 AM |Permalink for this entry

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